After going through all three, the two thick books and the thin booklet, he finally managed to piece together a basic understanding of this world.
It was a world whose history was soaked in blood.
A thousand years ago, endless slaughter had been commonplace. That chaos only subsided after the gods descended from the heavens and began granting their blessings to mortals. Only then had order, fragile as it was, been restored.
The root of that bloodshed lay beneath the city of Orario itself.
The dungeon.
Monsters overflowed endlessly from its depths, pouring into the surface world and plunging it into disaster time and time again. The very dungeon he had been teleported into. Just reading that section was enough to send a chill down his spine, even for someone as composed as him.
Another important detail concerned the reason the gods had descended to the mortal realm in the first place.
It wasn't anything noble. Not salvation. Not mercy.
The exact words from the book resurfaced clearly in his mind.
"The gods, unchanging and eternal, became bored of their monotonous life in Tenkai, and in search of excitement sealed their divine powers "the arcanum" and came down to the mortal world "Gekai" to experience the excitement and pleasures of the mortal world."
They had descended simply because they were bored. Even thinking about it left him at a loss. No matter how he tried, he couldn't begin to understand the logic, or lack thereof, behind the gods of this world.
Still, another question continued to gnaw at him.
If the gods had only sealed their Arcanum, then why had there been such a violent reaction when he attempted to heal that goddess earlier? His magic shouldn't have triggered anything so extreme.
He thought it over again and again, but no clear answer emerged. In the end, the only explanation that even vaguely made sense was his own existence, someone summoned from another world. Perhaps that abnormality had caused the unexpected reaction.
Shaking his head, he set the matter aside and moved on to something more practical.
He had already narrowed down a few Familias that might be worth joining.
Based on the adventurer levels described in the books, and factoring in the most recent upgrade to the Ring of Life, his current strength should place him at the peak of Level 3, or at least comparable to a weaker Level 4.
With that level of ability, joining a Familia shouldn't be too difficult.
["Darkness: Silent Room - Disperse."]
The magic covering the room dissolved at his command. Once the magic faded, he headed downstairs, pulled out a chair, and sat at one of the tables near the counter before asking Karen, still behind the counter, for dinner.
Judging by the empty plates scattered across nearby tables, it seemed he was the last guest to eat that night.
He finished his dinner quickly, thanked Karen. With the fatigue of the day finally catching up to him, he returned to his room without lingering and retired for the night.
As he lay down on the bed, his thoughts drifted lazily toward the days ahead.
Tomorrow would be a significant day for him.
...
The next day.
Quinn woke up to the first rays of sunlight filtering through the window.
It might have been his imagination, but the moment the sunlight touched his skin, he felt slightly weakened, as if his body reacted negatively to it. The sensation was faint, yet noticeable enough for him to frown.
After getting ready, he sat on the bed and finished reading the remaining part of the books. By the time he headed down to the first floor, it was already eight in the morning.
A few other guests were seated at the tables, quietly having their breakfast.
The person standing behind the reception desk was not Karen, but a beautiful young girl, around seventeen years old, with the same hair color as her.
'Maybe Karen's daughter?'
"Hello, I'm Anna. You must be the person Mother mentioned, Quinn-san. I'll bring you breakfast, so please follow me."
The girl spoke in a soft, polite voice as soon as she saw him come down the stairs, then led him to an empty table.
As soon as Quinn sat down, she returned to the desk and slipped through the door beside it.
At the table next to him sat two beast-humans, a dog-man and a werewolf.
"Morning," Quinn greeted them when they turned to look at him. They seemed just as sharp as the beast-humans from his original world. Even a brief stare was enough to put them on alert.
Both gave him a short nod before returning to their conversation. There were also a few dwarves present, though their table was some distance away.
While Quinn was glancing around the room, Karen walked out from the same door, carrying a plate. The girl from earlier followed closely behind her.
"Here is your breakfast. Please enjoy," Karen said as she set the plate down in front of him.
"Thank you."
At his words, Karen simply waved her hand dismissively and went back inside. The girl gave a small nod of her own before quickly returning to her spot behind the desk.
...
Quinn entered the guild building.
Mornings were clearly the busiest time of day. Long queues stretched through the center of the hall, leading to the guild advisors' desks.
Rather than joining the line, Quinn moved toward the benches on the left side of the hall, intending to wait until the crowd thinned out.
Near the benches stood a massive board, surrounded by adventurers who were closely inspecting it.
"Excuse me," Quinn said, stopping a guild employee who was walking past. "What is that board for? The one everyone's crowding around."
"That board displays adventurer- and dungeon-related information," the employee replied without slowing down. "Requests, announcements, and dungeon notices are all posted there."
By the time she finished speaking, she was already walking away, her red hair swaying behind her.
'Information about adventurers and the dungeon… That could be useful.'
With that thought in mind, Quinn walked toward the board.
Standing near one corner, he carefully read through the papers pinned to it.
"The Loki Familia's latest expedition has been declared a failure by the Guild. This marks their second unsuccessful expedition in a row."
"Yesterday's monster attack was determined to be the result of mismanagement by the Ganesha Familia. They have been penalized and assigned to investigate rumors of a humanoid mutated monster on the 30th floor."
"A Monster Feast has spawned on the 24th floor this morning. Adventurers visiting that floor are advised to proceed with caution."
"Requesting one kilogram of Under Coral. Price negotiable. Please contact-"
"Requesting three Viras Flowers from the 23rd floor. Price per flower: 1.3 million Valis."
Many other notices were posted as well, some containing news, others listing requests for dungeon materials.
After taking in a fair amount of information, Quinn stepped away from the board and headed toward the central desks. By then, the line of adventurers had dwindled to only a few people.
"Good morning, Misha-san," Quinn greeted the pink-haired girl, who looked slightly weary.
"Good morning, Quinn-san," Misha replied. The tired look on her face vanished instantly as she straightened up and smiled. "Have you decided which Familia you want to join?"
Just as Quinn was about to answer, another voice interrupted.
"Ahem. Misha, discussions about joining a Familia should be conducted inside the Meeting Box."
The speaker was a striking half-elf with brown hair and emerald eyes, seated at the desk beside Misha's.
"Ah, Eina! What would I even do without you?" Misha said quickly, grateful for the reminder, before gesturing for Quinn to follow her, "Quinn-san, please follow me. We'll discuss the rest in the Meeting Box."
They entered the same room they were in yesterday and sat across from each other.
"So, Quinn-san," Misha began, folding her hands on the table, "have you decided which Familia you'd like to try joining? Hmmm, were you considering the Loki Familia or the Freya Familia?"
"It would be very, very difficult to join either of them," she quipped.
"No," Quinn said quickly, before she could continue. "I was thinking of joining a different Familia. Not the top-ranked ones."
"Oh?" Misha leaned forward slightly. "Which Familia do you have in mind?"
"I want to try the Dionysus Familia. They're mid-ranked and relatively strong compared to other Familias in the same tier."
Misha blinked, then gave a troubled smile. "The Dionysus Familia, huh… That's an unusual choice. Not many people choose to join them, mostly because of the rumors surrounding their current captain."
"Ahem." She shook her head lightly and continued. "That aside, God Dionysus isn't accepting new members at the moment. He says having more people makes the Familia difficult to manage."
I should look into that captain if I get the chance, Quinn noted mentally.
"Any other Familia you're considering?" Misha asked.
"Then how about the Ikelos Familia?" Quinn replied. "They're listed as an exploration-focused Familia, but most of their members are ordinary people rather than adventurers as per the booklet."
Misha sighed and shook her head again. "You really know how to pick unusual ones. Unfortunately, God Ikelos also isn't accepting new members. Something about newcomers being 'too pure' to help them in the dungeon."
"How about you try the Hestia Familia? Or the Miach Familia? Even the Dellingr Familia?" she suggested, listing a few alternatives.
"Hestia Familia…" Quinn recalled the goddess he had met the day before, and the white-haired boy constantly shouting her name.
Remembering how her loud voice nearly ruptured his eardrums, along with the boy's equally explosive volume, Quinn was certain he wouldn't last even half a day there.
"No. I won't join that Familia."
"Then the Miach Familia?" Misha tried next.
According to the booklet, it was a healing-type Familia with only a single member. That was definitely strange. A healing Familia with only one member? Either something was wrong, or they simply didn't want anyone else joining.
"No," Quinn replied, shaking his head.
"The Dellingr Familia, then?"
It was listed as a low-to-mid-level exploration Familia, its members weaker than those of the Dionysus Familia.
"That Familia isn't much better," Quinn said plainly.
'The final option, then.'
Having made a decision, Quinn looked at Misha and asked the question which was on his mind.